Sorry everyone.....no preview I was running late. VT is from Virginia and Will from Deadspin went to Illinois......Let's go (after the jump).

VT #5 West Region:

Conference Atlantic Coast
Location Blacksburg, VA
Coach Seth Greenberg (since 2003)
Arena Cassell Coliseum
Record 21-11 (10-6)
RPI 25
NCAA Appearances 7
NCAA Record 5-7 (.417)
Last Bid 1996
Last Win 1996

Illinois #11 West Region:

Conference Big Ten
Location Champaign, IL
Coach Bruce Weber (since 2003)
Arena Assembly Hall
Record 23-11 (9-7)
RPI 34
NCAA Appearances 26
NCAA Record 38-27 (.585)
Last Bid 2006
Last Win 2006


So I ran into a little snafu at dinner. For some reason it took about 30 minutes to get the bill.

Our score early is Illini 11 VT 5.

A little programming FYI- Extra P is on the Nova/Kentucky game, and OMDQ is on the late game action. For some reason he wants to do the Holy Cross game real bad, so if you're from Mass. join him later on.

Back to the game. 11-8 Illini leads. VT turns it over. Carter misses for Ill. Washington flies through the air for a miss on the other end. Dowdell ties it for VT with a three. VT gets it back and Vasallo nails another one from long distance for the Hookies.

Arnold gets one in close for Ill, and it's a one point lead. 14-13.

Dowdell misses a three. At the under twelve it's a one point Hokie lead.

Brando and Mike Giminski are back on the case for our evening game FYI.

Both teams trade threes, but Illini hits another to follow. Two point lead for Illinois. Carter gets the ball knocked away, and there's a shot clock violation.

19-17 at the under 8 stoppage.

Vasallo with the steal for VT. Washington is out of control again, and he needs to settle down. Ray Pruitt (Thanks Chemical Brother) hits for the Illini. Four point UofI lead.

Arnold in a crowd hits a hook for UofI, and VT misses on the other end. Carter bricks a runner, and Dowdell misses at the other end.

Randle just destroys the entire Tech teams, and throws it down on the break after a spin move.

25-19 Illinois

The Main Event says......Randle looks like a presentable Juwan Howard.

Very true. But he just doesn't have the same box fade.....with this one topping them all.

Illinois' half court defense is forcing some horrible shots by VT. U of I gets the ball on the tie up.

"Randle with the 360 Slamma.....OH FIGHT THA POWER!"- Tim Brando, There are not words to describe how white that sounded.

25-19 U of I with 3 minutes to go.

Wow...I can't tell you how much I hate the Hokies after I just saw that Coke commercial.

Vasallo fouled shooting a jumper with one sec on the shot clock. Bad play by the Illini. But Vasallo gives it right back with an offensive foul. 1:30 to go.

Splash! Carter nails a three and is fouled....plus he has pretty hair!

29-19 with 1:21 left. Dowdell hits, and VT gets a steal but blows a dunk. Crazy sequence at the end, but VT misses at the buzzer.

29-21 Illinois at the half

"You might have to wake up the official scorekeepter"- MG, tell me about it.

We're back, and VT opens up with two straight hoops. The second a nice follow dunk. 4 point lead now.

Dunk from Illinois. Collins picks up an offensive board and will head to the line. He hits both and the lead is four. And Greenberg gets a technical called on him. Stupid stupid move. Illinois hits both.

Gordon going to the line, and he hits both to get the technical points back. Carter banks in a jumper followed by a Vasallo airball. under 16 timeout.

35-29 U of I.

"I'll use the banking board thank you very much"- TB, Is it really called a banking board?

Collins to the line and he misses both. Carter gets an offensive foul at the other end for the Illini. VT misses what seems like 17 shots, and McBride gets a three at the other end.

Dowdell turns it over, and McBride is fouled shooting another three. He'll head to the line.

Vasallo finally hits, and that cuts the lead to 7. 12+ to go.

McBride is hurt and is heading back to the locker room. Expect a VT run here....

Illinois just looks like they want it more....VT looks really tired. The Illini to the line when we get back from the Under 8 minute timeout.

39-32 Ill.

Two throws from Illinois to push it to nine, but Vasallo hits a runner on the other end.

"Seth Greenberg would like to see more deuces like that from Vasallo"- TB, Ewww.

Meachum hits a three, and VT is in trouble....10 to go. VT's offense now consists of Vasallo just chucking shots everytime down the court. Carter hits and the lead is 13.

Vasallo commits a foul, and they look horrible. No one cares on this team at all.

Washington actually decides to play defense and forces a five second call. The defense for Illinois is just smothering though.....VT misses again....they're 31% from the field.

Randle gets an offensive board and is fouled on the put back. 1 of 2 and the lead is fourteen. CBS has the score wrong as it shows only a 13 point lead. VT gets to the line on the other end, but Gordon can only hit 1 of 2 as well.

Under 8....46-35 Illinois. I'm confused. I could have sworn it was a 14 point lead, but whatever.....it's 11.

CBS has the score at 47-35 when we come back.....I still think it's thirteen but oh well it's twelve. Tim and Mike are talking about VT pressing, and yes they should......have started this about 3 minutes ago.

"The New Adventures of Old Christine"- TB
"Well I hope she dances better than old Elaine"- MG

Not bad Mike.....Seinfeld humor always goes over well with this crowd.

Tech is missing the front end of their 1 and 1's and that's not good. 10 point game 7 minutes left. Carter hits one of two for Illinois, and Dowdell travels and turns the ball over.

Steal for VT, and Gordon goes to the line. 6:21 left.

Another steal on the press for VT and Washington will go to the line this time. He can cut the lead to seven......but doesn't. He only hits one of two....eight point lead.

5 turnovers the last seven trips for Illinois, but they score this time with one second left on the shot clock. 10 point game 5 minutes left. Gordon hits and is fouled.....he can cut it to seven. Buuuuuuuuut he of course misses the FT.

Illinois turns it over, and we've gone under 5 minutes. Washington is T'ed up and that was a horrible call. He got popped in the mouth and then gets tangled up with Randle. It was actually an intentional foul.

Randle airballs the Free Throw, and the Basketball Gods make it right with two misses. Randle scores on the return possession, but Washington hits a three to cut the lead back down to seven.

Yet another turnover for Illinois, but Gordon misses the layup. He's had a terrible game.

52-45 under 4 to go.

Illinois breaks the press finally and sets up on offense. Great defensive play by Washington as he blocks a shot and tips it out. Missed layup, but there's a foul on the play. VT to the line after the break.

Despite missing on all my Cinderella's so far (VCU not included) I'm in good shape here. Its almost unbelievable to me that Illinois is playing damn near a home game as the 12 seed. This game is in Columbus (obviously) which is a lot closer to CHampagne than it is to Blackburg. (BD)

Great point. I obviously didn't take this into consideration when I had VT beating Kansas. My brackets are cooked.

Collins hits both and the lead is 5. 3 minutes to go. Illinois gets it across. Illinois gets a new possession after a held ball, and VT can't get a rebound to save their lives. New shot clock

Turnover. VT ball....Washington hits a three! 52-50!!! Two-minutes to go.

"Hookie Hookie High.....this boy from VPI has close the gap"- TB

VT can't get another board, and Illinois is just dominating on the glass. There they go. Vasallo gets one. Timeout Tech. 1:30 to go.

Gordon to the line to probably miss at least one free throw. And of course he misses the first....hits the second. One point game.

Carter misses...Washington with the board. Under a minute.....WASHINGTON HITS THE BANKER!!!!! He's on fire. VT UP ONE!!!!!

53-52.....37.7 secs left.

"The Bank is open late in Ohio....OH HI O."- TB

Carter tries a jumper....he misses, but he was fouled. No call. VT pulls it down. Vasallo to the line. He misses the first, but hits the second. Two point game....

Timeout Illinois.....17.6 left.....54-52.

No timeouts for Illinois.....Randle misses a wide-open three but somehow gets his own miss. OH AND A FOUL.....good call. 1 and 1.....he misses. Tie ball!!!!

And that's game! The Hokies somehow pull out the win in a game that they should have lost.

54-52.....thank Washington for the win Blacksburg. Two more live-blogs left tonight....enjoy!